Snubbed by Fianna Fail
JACK is back…stronger than ever…and has set his sights on the mayoral chain
Snubbed the party that he served so loyally for decades, Jack Bourke, now into his seventies, has thrown his hat into the ring as an independent candidate for the upcoming local elections.
And to back his campaign, he has called in his brother-in-law, singer songwriter, Pete St John, the man credited with The Fields of Athenry, and who is going on walkabout with him.
The Roxboro’ Road resident is still mystified as to why Fianna Fail refused to give him a nomination.
“I was quite simply dropped after all my service”, said the three-times Mayor of his adopted city, “and the irony of it all is that last time out, I was pipped at the post by a slender five votes. At the time, I was in hospital over the period of the canvass and that probably cost me a few votes”.
Bemoaning the fact that Fianna Fail have just two seats on City Council-John Cronin and Kieran O’Hanlon-Bourke predicts they won’t fare any better in the June elections.
And he further predicts that Defence Minister Willie O’Dea, will get nothing close to the 19,000 first preference votes he polled last year, when it comes to the next General Election.
As a former national director of elections, Bourke has very much the inside track on Fianna Fail, and is saddened that the party has lost popular support.
“Going independent was the only choice left open to me …I want to continue to serve the people in the area I represented for 32 years. Even though I have not been on City Council for the last five years, constituents still keep knocking on my door for assistance, and I am only too glad to help them in any way possible. In that context, staff at City Hall continue to be most co-operative and give me a listening ear”.
Bourke says age is no barrier when it comes to sitting on council. “I have decades of experience behind me, the kind that one cannot buy. I am confident that those in wards three and four will lend their support to my campaign for votes. Maybe Pete St John will continue to canvass with me -he knocked on doors in the Lynwood Park area last weekend and got a great reception-and do a few bars of The Fields of Athenry”, continued Jack, who is uncle to RTE broadcaster Gerry Ryan.
Fianna Fail, he added, could have done with his experience in the build-up to the local elections. “The party needs to be rebuilt at local level and I would have had something to offer.
“If elected to council, I will be making it known my intentions to become first citizen,” concluded Jack, who has the full support of wife Monica and family.
